Chapter 62: Don’t pretend to be an adult
Chapter 62: Don’t pretend to be an adult
“However,” Fang Yuenian grumbled again, “your thing, you…”
He looked at Cheng Bing with a conflicted expression, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back.
"What about me?"
"You..." Fang Yuenian hesitated for a long time, "Don't say those kinds of things in the future."
Which language?
"Well, um... what do you mean I only got close to you because of Sister Xiaoxiao and Sister Jun? That... that doesn't sound good."
Cheng Bing's lips curled slightly: "Isn't that right?"
“You’re kidding me,” Fang Yuenian laughed angrily. “If you’re going to say that, I’ll say you have some other… motive.”
Cheng Bing raised an eyebrow: "What purpose could I possibly have?"
"Stop pretending," Fang Yuenian glared at him. "If it weren't for me, with your refined air, tell me, who would take you to pick water chestnuts and dig lotus roots in spring, summer, autumn, and winter? Who would drag you into the water to pull up water chestnuts? Huh? Who would take you to climb loquat trees? And who could persuade you to go chestnut picking? You'll be successful in the future, right? Going to study and work in a big city, that's amazing. But many things can only be experienced in childhood. For example, when we were kids, we could swim in the river. Now, which family lets their children swim in the river? Childhood fun, childhood fun, how precious it is."
Cheng Bing leaned back in her chair, her eyelids slightly lowered: "That sounds like a lot of sense."
“It’s not just that it seems right, it’s that it’s right,” Fang Yuenian twisted her neck. “I told you back in junior high that you shouldn’t always pretend to be an adult. Anyway, in a few years you won’t be able to stop yourself from becoming an adult, so you should have fun now. Besides, I haven’t led you astray. You’re still a good student, so you can have both.”
"I wasn't pretending to be an adult."
"Okay, you're not pretending. So, little kid, you should be a bit more lively and active. Don't always look so preoccupied. Do you know that my homeroom teacher used to secretly call me over and ask if you were dating anyone?"
Cheng Bing looked up and asked, "What?"
Fang Yuenian realized he had let something slip and bit his tongue. "I swore I would never tell you."
Cheng Bing narrowed her eyes: "Fang Yuenian."
Fang Yuenian: "What's going on? I'm right in front of you, why are you calling me by my formal name?"
When did your homeroom teacher ask you that?
"Well, it's the end of junior high, and he knows we're close, and you're a good student. What if he asks you directly and makes you angry? So he asked me instead."
Cheng Bing pursed her lips and remained silent for a long while before letting out a sigh of relief. "Why didn't you tell me back then?"
Fang Yuenian was a little scared. "I was afraid of upsetting you, and the teacher's thinking is so strange. He said he felt like you had something on your mind. You know what 'something on your mind' means? He used that word. He said that sometimes you stare blankly at your book during class. I don't even understand what 'staring blankly at your book' means. How does he know you're staring blankly and not reading? It made me laugh. Besides, does staring blankly mean you're in a relationship? Teachers are so suspicious every day."
Cheng Bing, who had been keeping a stern face, suddenly laughed at the end. He looked at Fang Yuenian with a half-smile and said, "Then what do you know?"
Fang Yuenian opened his mouth: "I understand..." He stopped himself, stiffly and pretending to be very knowledgeable: "I understand a lot."
Cheng Bing chuckled and looked away: "Yes, you've received quite a few love letters. Why doesn't your homeroom teacher ask you if you're in a relationship?"
Fang Yuenian blushed slightly and retorted, "It's like you haven't received any. Besides, even if I had written some, so what? Meng Xiaoyang confessed to someone in junior high, and he even confessed to a boy. He's still the top student in our class now. So what? There are plenty of ways for people who don't want to study hard to not study. Why blame love letters?"
Cheng Bing's gaze was elsewhere, lost in thought. Fang Yuenian leaned closer and asked with a smile, "What are you doing? Do you think what I said makes sense? Are you planning to write a love letter tomorrow?"
Cheng Bing rolled her eyes at him, and Fang Yuenian laughed, "Alright, alright, let's hurry up and do the test. Let's stop chatting. I promised to go back at ten o'clock."
He cracked his knuckles, turned his gaze back to the book, and prepared to begin studying.
Cheng Bing sat in front of him, silently looked at him for a while, then lowered her head, dragged her chair back to face him, sat down, and opened her book.
Winter has arrived, and it's quiet outside. You can almost hear the murmuring of the Shuibiwan River.
The village is dotted with fishponds and lotus ponds, where refreshing aquatic creatures such as water chestnuts, water bamboo, lotus pods, and lotus roots bring joy and a bountiful harvest every year, especially beloved by children.
Cheng Bing's family didn't have a pond, only a small, winding ditch, the widest part of which was only one meter. It was dug by Cheng's grandfather to make it easier for Cheng's grandmother to raise ducks. The water wasn't deep, and duckweed floated on it all year round. Later, when the family stopped raising ducks, Lin Guohui cleared the ditch and planted half a circle of water lilies for Cheng Qiuyan. When the season came, you could see water lilies as big as bowls by parting the layers of lotus leaves.
Fang Yuenian was different. His family used to have a pond not far from their fields, but in earlier years they stopped raising crabs and fish, and the aquatic plants grew wildly, leaving it in a terrible state. Compared to the fish ponds of the neighboring families, it was quite embarrassing.
Wang Jing had many things to do, and although she was willing, she was not strong enough to clear the pond water by herself. So she simply contracted the task to her neighbor to grow lotus roots. The neighbor was kind and would give her some every year. Fang Yuenian would go into the water every year during the lotus root harvesting season, ostensibly to help, but really to have fun. He liked the feeling of his feet sinking into the mud and struggling to move forward step by step.
—He calls Cheng Bing every year.
Lotus flowers are rarely seen in ponds where lotus roots are grown, and lotus pods are even less common. In summer, the ponds are full of plump, emerald-green lotus leaves. Because it is a two-season lotus plant, the first season can be harvested in May or June. At that time, the sun is blazing, and if you don't take precautions, you will get sunburned and your skin will peel off.
They would wear full-body rubber suits and wade into the pond, pulling themselves along little by little. The sun was blazing on the surface, but the muddy water below was cool and refreshing. When they finally managed to pull the lotus root out, they would accidentally fall backward into the water, their faces splashed with muddy pond water, but it was a very pleasant experience.
Cheng Bing was clearly very happy at that time, Fang Yuenian believed, he even laughed out loud.
The two good students quietly did their homework.
After entering high school, Fang Yuenian seemed to have found a new way to learn, becoming quite adept at it, a stark contrast to her junior high school days when she would scratch her head and ask Cheng Bing for help with problems.
Cheng Bing sometimes observes how he does his homework or reads, and finds that he is often focused and completely absorbed.
Time flies, and it's already ten o'clock in the blink of an eye.
Even on a rare weekend at home, students still have to do homework—a typical day for diligent students.
Fang Yuenian was engrossed in studying and didn't even realize it was 10 o'clock, but Cheng Bing's phone suddenly rang, startling him.
"Who is it that's calling you so late?"
Cheng Bing glanced at the screen. "I don't know, it's not a saved number."
"Oh, then answer it," Fang Yuenian said, stretching and noticing the clock on the wall. "It's already ten o'clock."
Cheng Bing answered the phone and said coldly, "Hello."
The person on the other end was saying something, his expression was a little cold, and he looked up at Fang Yuenian across from him. "Is there something you need?"
Fang Yuenian was busy collecting the papers and was completely unaware of what was happening.
"have no idea."
"I don't know."
"I'm sorry, it's not convenient for me to ask for you."
Then Cheng Bing hung up the phone; the whole process was extremely unpleasant.
Fang Yuenian only realized something was wrong after hearing him say "I don't know" and looked over.
Seeing him hang up the phone without even saying goodbye, Fang Yuenian was a little confused. "What happened? Who called?"
Cheng Bing looked at him, thought for a moment, and asked, "You know Sun Yun from our class, right?"
Fang Yuenian looked bewildered: "I don't know."
Cheng Bing: "You really don't know?"
Fang Yuenian tentatively asked, "Is it your female deskmate again? How many female deskmates do you have...?"
“No,” Cheng Bing interrupted him, “she’s Sun Ning’s cousin from your class.”
Fang Yuenian received a message: "Oh, what a coincidence! These cousins are in the same grade. What's up? She called you? Tell me, haven't you already given away your phone number to everyone? Taking a classmate's call at 10 pm, really..."
"Fang Yue Nian".
Fang Yue Nian paused, noticing that the man's expression was almost cold.
"W-what's wrong?"
"Why don't you tell me about you and Sun Ning?" Cheng Bing crossed her arms. "Anyway, we're done with studying for today."
Fang Yue Nian raised an eyebrow, puzzled: "Me, with her? What do we have going on?"
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